There were many other things discussed in today’s video from the good doctor, but I’ve choosen a few that stood out to me, and I decided to express my opinion(s) of them.  This shall, unless directed otherwise by the CMs, be the way in which I respond to the good doctor’s videos.

The first thing I’d like to do is respond to the question about whether or not I find myself in a class at the university level on a regular basis where I can go off on and learn and discover on topics I enjoy, and put as much passion I like into it.  I will say that for me, it’s not been the case where I can do so.  Why?  Read on…My experience at the university level has been very guided as far as topics go.  Very rarely have I found myself in a position where I am able to explore and present on a topic that I enjoy.  In fact, the last time I remember doing so, it was a public speaking class at the community college level — I gave a very short presentation on nuclear fusion as a source of energy.  Other than that, my experience with college has been very directed:  Write this, study this, program this, do that, read these, and on and on and on.

To answer the good doctor’s second question, I’d have to say that the UMW faculty that I’ve worked with have not been doing too much in the way of cultivating this behavior.  Now, there are exceptions.  Individual studies allow students to do guided research on a topic of their choosing, but I’ve seen most of these projects have something to do with the mentor’s area of research.  Is that a bad thing?  Maybe, maybe not.  It’s often the case that a student will talk to a professor about their are of research, find it interesting, and get involved.  That’s fine, but it also drags me away from my point:  We do not have a strong, nay, detectable encouraging of students to go into a class and delve into a topic relevent to that class that interests them.  We’re bogged down with pre-fabricated assignments, syllabi, tests and exams.  Where’s the freedom?  Where’s the choice?  Not in our UMW classrooms, that’s for sure.  Then again…not in many colleges from what I hear.

Moving on…

I agree with the good doctor in that we cannot see the traditional classroom experience vs online courses choice as black and white as Ms. Chelsea seemed to gather from Campbell.  I also agree that many courses have potential room for expansion via cyber-infrastructure.  History, literature, computer science, and psychology come to mind immediately.  These areas of study can easily, and in fact have, made use of a virtual space in which students interact, exchange ideas, and learn from one another.  If you think about it, even unlikely areas of study like mathematics, physics, ans chemistry could make use of this.  Perhaps they could use a virtual space for discussing theoretical matters.

Moving on…

Standards of Learning…you just had to pass us that ball, didn’t you, doc?  I’ll keep it brief.  College offers freedom from the restrictive cycle of the SOLs, but I have to say…these standardizations…these…teaching methods (there, I said it)…they are sadly lacking.  They (pre-post-secondary facilities, i.e. K-12 school systems) aren’t preparing students to be creative problem solvers, they’re preparing them to be frakking test taker for cryin’ out loud!  Are there opportunities to express oneself creatively in public education?  Sure.  But you have to have a pretty durable shovel to dig that deep to find it.  This may also play a part in why students are so bored in class!  As the good doctor pointed out from Andrew, most students don’t like school, but seemingly on the total opposite end of the spectrum, students love to learn.  Why?  Read above.  Standardizations have played their roll in stripping the fun from school.  It’s a game of numbers, people.  Numbers and number-oriented benchmarks to reach.  Now, I digress…It’s too late at night to get wound up like this.

With that, I think I’ll cut it off here.  My opinion-forming powers need to recharge, and I need sleep (points to the bed two feet to the left).

This is Joe Proffitt sighing off.